


baseball is pretty good, too

by nicolesoul



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baseball, F/M, M/M, based on semi-true events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 12:09:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15194468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicolesoul/pseuds/nicolesoul
Summary: The fourth inning was nearly over when Monty arrived back at the seats with his arms full of hot dogs and beer and an embarrassed smile on his face.“So I have some good news and some bad news.”





	baseball is pretty good, too

**Author's Note:**

> loosely inspired by a real trip to a baseball game

“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.” - **Yogi Berra**

\--

The fourth inning was nearly over when Monty arrived back at the seats with his arms full of hot dogs and beer and an embarrassed smile on his face.

“So I have some good news and some bad news.”

Clarke looked up at her friend, lowering her cap to block out the sun. “If the bad news is the Stars suck, we’re already well aware.”

Monty glanced behind him at the scoreboard, where the pitiful score currently stood at Arkadia Stars- 1 Polis Grounders- 5.

“They got a run?”

“I know, we were shocked too,” Raven deadpanned from next to Clarke, “Can I have my beer please?”

“Lucky homerun for Atom,” Clarke explained.

“Only way he would get one batting against Roan,” Monty nodded

“Beer please,” Raven stuck her hand out over Clarke, “I need alcohol to make this boring game mildly entertaining.”

“Baseball’s not boring,” Clarke and Monty shot back simultaneously.

Raven rolled her eyes but didn’t argue and Clarke grinned appreciatively at Monty. He was the only one of their friend group who would willingly go with her to an Arkadia Stars baseball game without being bribed with food and beer.

Of course Clarke didn’t blame the rest of her friends for not wanting to come. She knew baseball wasn’t for everyone and the Stars did majorly suck. But they were her father’s team. The team she’d grown up watching, perched on her father’s lap so she could see as he explained the rules in patient detail. And every time she came back to the stadium, his memory felt just a little more vibrant.

“So what’s the news?”

“Well good news, we’re sitting in the wrong seats and we should be down there,” he nodded down the aisle towards the field.

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Monty balanced the tray of food and drink in one arm and stuck out his phone to show them. Sure enough, they were supposed to be in seats 18 thru 20, row 5, not in their current location of seats 18-20, row 20.

“How did you get this confused?”

Monty’s cheeks glowed red. “I looked at the ticket that said seat 20, and I guess I didn’t look carefully enough.”

“No kidding,” Raven laughed, “How are you an engineer again?”

“I have ADHD Raven, shut up.”

Clarke ignored their bickering and grabbed her bag, “So should we move down to our real seats?”

“Um, well, that’s the bad news,” Monty said, “There’s someone currently sitting there.”

Clarke stood up and looked down at the rows in front of them. Two guys sat in the end seats of row 5 where they should be.

“We can get them to move, I mean they’re our seats,” Raven said, grabbing her things as well.

“I don’t want to bother anyone,” Monty shook his head, “I mean we’ve got this whole row to ourselves back here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Monty, you paid for those seats!” Clarke exclaimed.

“It was a Groupon…”

“That you paid for,” Clarke marched out of their row and headed down the stairs towards their proper seats. “Come on, I know you want a closer view of Nyko’s ass.”

Raven plucked her beer from Monty’s tray, “Now we get to the real entertainment.”

The Grounders had retired the side, and people were streaming up and down the aisle now, so it took Clarke a minute to get a clear view of the seats, but already she knew they were far better than where they had just been sitting. Only a few rows up from the fence, easily in homerun ball territory.

The two guys were sitting in seats 18 and 19, so Clarke stepped into the aisle seat, while Monty and Raven hung back on the stairs, Raven watching with a smirk on her face, Monty nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

The darker skinned guy sitting farther in noticed her first and stood, nudging his friend to let her pass. Clarke shook her head.

“I think you’re in our seats.”

The guy standing gave a little chuckle. “Right, sorry, we thought these were empty. C’mon Bell,” he nudged his friend again, “Let’s move back down.”

The other guy, still sitting, looked up lazily at Clarke. Clarke felt her bitch face slip for a second as he met her eyes. Damn, he was cute. Olive skin, dark eyes, messy curls tucked underneath a Stars cap, not unlike the one she was wearing. But she caught herself, quickly and resumed her glare, hardening it further after he gave her a once over and turned back to the field.

“No.”

Clarke fumed and crossed her arms. Of course she found him attractive. He was an asshole.

“Excuse me?”

“Bellamy…” his friend glanced around at the few people sitting around them starting to take notice of the scene. The Stars had taken the field and the first Grounder had already come up to bat.

The sitting guy, Bellamy, glanced over to his friend. “What Miller? It’s the fifth inning.”

“So what?” Clarke said.

“So,” Bellamy drawled, “If you don’t arrive until the fifth inning, you lose your seats, Princess.”

“What the hell are you even talking about?”

“It’s the unwritten code.”

“Of what? Assholes?”

“Of baseball, obviously. You’d know if you were a real fan.” Clarke resisted the screaming urge to smack Bellamy across the face.

“Clarke, come on, let’s just go back to where we were sitting before,” Monty said, glancing back at the usher, who was now watching them as well.

“No, Monty, these are our seats,” Clarke said before turning her attention back to Bellamy, “And for your information, we were here at the beginning of the game, we just sat in the wrong seats.”

This wasn’t technically true. They’d arrived halfway through the first inning because Raven had been late, but Clarke sure as hell wasn’t telling Bellamy that.

“Listen Princess—“

“My name is Clarke.”

“Whatever,” Bellamy waved his hand flippantly, “How about this, you can have our seats instead?”

“Unless your seats are behind home plate or in an executive suite, I’m gonna have to pass.”

Bellamy smirked, “Nope they’re right there.” He pointed down into the row at two empty seats located behind a man who had to be at least 6 foot sitting down and a woman whom he had his arm around, wearing the floppiest and largest hat Clarke had ever seen.

“Yeah I think I’ll pass.”

“Excuse me,” The aisle usher appeared from behind Monty, “Is there an issue here? People are trying to watch the game.”

Clarke usually preferred to fight her own battles, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to getting quite a bit of pleasure from taking Monty’s phone and offering their tickets to the usher. “We just noticed we’ve been sitting in the wrong seats. I think we should be in this row?”

The usher looked from the phone to the seat numbers and nodded. “Where do your tickets say you should be,” she asked Bellamy, who looked down at his own tickets with mock surprise.

“Oh what do you know, Miller, we should be down two seats.” Bellamy’s friend, Miller, rolled his eyes, but moved down. Bellamy hopped over as well. Not quite to their own proper seats, but just next to where Clarke, Monty and Raven should be sitting.

The usher headed back up to the top of the stairs, a few scattered claps from the people sitting around them following her for putting an end to the fight. Monty and Raven filed in behind Clarke into their seats. Monty sighed in relief of finally being able to put down his tray of food and beer, handing Raven her hot dog and Clarke her beer. 

But Clarke didn’t even bother taking a sip, still focused on Bellamy, who was settling in the empty seat right next to her. “Shouldn’t you be down a little more?” she asked.

Bellamy shrugged, the smirk still playing on his lips and turned his attention back to the field. The Stars had walked the last Grounder, but had still managed two outs and the pitcher, Roan, was up to bat, so it shouldn’t be too hard for them to finish off the inning.

“Sorry about him,” Miller said

Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but Monty said a quick, “It’s fine,” before she could speak. “I’m Monty, by the way. And this is Raven and Clarke.”

Raven gave a little half-wave before turning her attention to her phone.

“I’m Miller, and this grump is Bellamy.”

“I’m not a grump,” Bellamy grumbled.

“He’s not usually,” Miller said, “He’s just in a bad mood today.” Roan hit a popup that the Stars’ first baseman easily caught, sending the Grounders back into the field.

Bellamy cheered loudly for the out, pointedly ignoring his friend’s commentary. Clarke, eager to get under her new found nemesis’s skin, took the bait right away.

“Why’s that?” Bellamy glared at his friend, but Miller ignored him with a shit-eating grin. Clarke had a feeling perhaps he hadn’t enjoyed Bellamy’s little show.

“His sister’s dating the Grounders third baseman.”

“You’re kidding,” Raven cackled.

Bellamy grit his teeth, “Shut up Miller.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Raven said, putting her phone down, far more interested in the drama than the game before them.

“Yeah,” Clarke added on, “Are you saying he’s just here to keep an eye on the guy dating his sister, not as a real fan of baseball?”

“Yeah,” Miller laughed the same time Bellamy said loudly, “No!”

Clarke and Raven dissolved into giggles and even Monty let out a chuckle. Bellamy sunk into his seat, grabbing his beer from the cup holder and sulking as he sipped it.

Feeling much more even, Clarke let herself relax and took a sip from her own drink.

“Is your sister really dating Lincoln Forrester?” She asked.

Bellamy glanced over at her, seeing if she was still teasing him.

“I’m just curious,” she put her hands up in innocence, “He’s like the best rookie in the league right now.”

She looked over at the player in question at third base. The tall broad shouldered man stood crouched at the ready. As if on cue, the batter cracked a ball straight above him and with ease and grace, Lincoln jumped up and caught it with a resounding thwack.

“Yeah,” Bellamy huffed, “I’d be excited about him being traded to the Stars if it didn’t mean him and Octavia could hang out even more.”

Clarke gasped. “Lincoln Forrester is going to be traded to the Stars?”

Bellamy’s eyes went wide and he looked around frantically. But nobody seemed too interested in them now that they were no longer fighting.

“Yes, shit, don’t say anything, I’m not supposed to tell anyone. It’s going to be announced tomorrow.”

“Holy shit, this is big though! Like playoff contention big!”

“I know!” Bellamy laughed, “Like I said, I’d be thrilled if it weren’t for, you know, the whole dating my sister thing?”

“How’d they even meet?”

“She’s a kickboxing instructor and one of her trainer friends introduced them,” Bellamy rolled his eyes.

“That’s awesome. Any other potential trades you want to let me know about?”

“Trust me, if I knew any more I’d start laying down some bets”

The conversation flowed easily from there as they jumped from dream pickups to the Stars slim-to-none playoff chances this year to how they’d become Stars’ fans to begin with.

Bellamy’s mom, like Clarke’s dad, had grown up during the Stars’ heyday and passed her love of the team onto her son. He grew up in a tiny basement apartment with his mother and sister, and although the family could only afford nosebleed seats, to Bellamy, sitting up that high had been the best part of going to the games.

By the 7th inning stretch the score had gotten worse (8-2 Grounders), but Clarke was enjoying the game far more than any she’d attended in a while. The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the crowd, as most of their section had been emptied out.

Miller and Monty had left to get popcorn and another beer for Raven and sat in the now empty row in front of them when they’d returned, deep in conversation themselves.

Clarke was prepared to start teasing them when a swell of romantic music trumpeted from the jumbotron.

“Oh god,” she groaned, “It’s a proposal.”

Sure enough the camera cut to a young blonde squealing in joy as her boyfriend knelt in front of her on one knee, ring held up for the whole stadium to see.

Bellamy raised a brow, “I thought all girls loved a good marriage proposal.”

“First of all, that’s stereotyping,” Clarke ticked off her fingers, “Second, that’s not a good marriage proposal.”

“What do you mean?” Bellamy looked back to the screen where the girl was nodding through her tears as her boyfriend slipped the ring on her finger. The crowd cheered wildly.

“Please don’t get her started,” Raven said without looking up from her phone.

But Clarke was already rearing to go. “You’re basically forcing the person to say yes or subject themselves to public humiliation. Public proposals should be banned in general but especially at sports games. The only thing worse is—”

The words ‘Kiss Cam’ popped up on the screen, replacing the already kissing couple. Clarke groaned again.

Bellamy smiled bemusedly at her. “So it’s all public displays of affection I guess.”

“All forced displays,” she corrected him.

“Hey Clarke, remember when you, me, and Finn came to a game and the kiss cam landed on us?” Raven said with a smirk.

“I’d really rather not,” Clarke grimaced and focused on the screen where an admittedly cute old couple gave each other a light peck on the lips.

Then to her ultimate horror, she was suddenly looking at herself on the big screen, right in the middle of the animated heart with Bellamy, his smile replaced by a look of utter shock.

“We’re not, I’m not his…” Clarke looked around wildly, trying to find the cameraman as if she could explain the situation to them. Her eyes met Bellamy’s instead and for a split second she thought maybe the kiss cam wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

But that thought was interrupted by Raven’s loud whooping next to them. Clarke whipped her head back towards the jumbotron where the heart had shifted slightly downwards and Monty and Miller were now seriously making out.

“Oh my god,” Clarke laughed. Bellamy still looked stunned, but he was sporting a wide grin now, and gave his friend a light pat on the back. “Way to go, Miller,” he cheered as Raven let out a wolf whistle.

The camera returned to the game as the Stars came up to bat and Miller and Monty broke apart, both bright red but looking ultimately pleased with themselves.

Bellamy leaned back in his seat and grinned at Clarke. “I guess forced public displays of affection aren’t all bad, huh Princess?”

Clarke tried not to look at his lips and block the image of kissing him from her mind. “I guess not,” she conceded. So much for considering him her new nemesis.

The rest of the game went fairly quickly, ending with the 8-2 score. The five of them loitered in their seats as Monty and Miller exchanged numbers and goodbyes.

Clarke glanced at Bellamy, texting on his phone, out of the corner of her eye. Chances were if Monty and Miller were going out, she’d probably see Bellamy again. But, what if Monty lost his courage and never spoke to Miller again? Shouldn’t she get Bellamy’s number just in case?

“Clarke?”

Clarke spun around to face the man in question. “Yeah?”

He pointed past her to Raven, Monty and Miller who were all heading up the aisle now.

“Right,” her face flushed, “Sorry.”

She made her way to the stairs, Bellamy behind her. “I’m sorry too,” he said, “About the, um, kiss cam thing.”

“Why are you sorry?” She asked, “It’s not like you asked the guy to point it on us.”

“No,” he agreed, “But if you hadn’t just gone on that rant. I probably would have kissed you.”

Clarke stumbled over the top step, only stopped from falling by Bellamy reaching out and grabbing her by the waist. “Oh.” Clarke turned to face him. With her on the top step, they were nearly at even heights.

“Sorry,” Bellamy said again, dropping his hands from her waist like he’d touched something hot, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

Clarke tugged his t-shirt to bring him closer. “Don’t apologize,” she said softly before bringing him in for a kiss.

Clarke’s favorite part of the baseball game as a kid has been when the Stars would win and the fireworks would go off above the stadium. Her team had lost, but she still felt that soaring feeling of fireworks and joy kissing Bellamy.

Somewhere behind them, she could hear Raven exclaim, “Am I the only one not getting laid tonight?” But Clarke was lost in Bellamy to focus on anything else until a much closer voice cleared their throat.

“A-hem,” They broke apart. The usher who had come to break up their fight earlier, stood a few feet next to them, brow raised. “Game’s over,” she said.

“Right,” Bellamy chuckled nervously.

“Sorry,” Clarke giggled.

Four years later, they returned to the stadium, arm in arm, no longer needing to cajole their friends into coming to a Stars’ game for company.

“You won’t believe where I got us tickets,” Bellamy grinned, leading Clarke to the very section they’d met.

“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed, but was pleased all the same.

They settled in to seats 18 and 17, enjoying the Stars beating the crap out of the Grounders for once.

“Did Lincoln help you get these?” Clarke asked when the Stars’ all-star third baseman waved at them midway through the fifth.

“Are you doubting my skills?” Bellamy mock-pouted and Clarke shook her head. “You’re ridiculous,” she told him again, still unable to hide her smile.

Suddenly a familiar swell of music came over the loudspeakers. Another proposal. Clarke got ready to roll her eyes, but to her horror, Bellamy was down on one knee.

“Bellamy what are you—”

“Clarke Griffin,”

“Get up!” she hissed.

“Will you do me the honor…”

“Bellamy, stop!”

Clarke twisted to look at the screen, where to her surprise, a totally different couple was displayed.

 “What?”

“Do me the honor,” Bellamy continued, a smirk spread across his face, “Of getting me another beer?”

“Oh my god,” Clarke rolled her eyes and pulled her boyfriend up off the ground, “Get back in your seat, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

Bellamy laughed, but did as she asked and sat back down. But when Clarke returned her attention to the field, he surreptitiously checked his pocket. The ring he’d bought was still there, but he’d save it for after the game.


End file.
